ISLANDSBC QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2026

ISLANDSBC QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2026

The last quarter has been a period of major change for Islandsbc, with a move from Bridge Base Online (BBO) to RealBridge in September, writes Colin Pearson. This newsletter provides background to this move, a follow-up to one of our stories in the last quarterly review, a focus on one of our newer bridge players living in a quieter part of the TRNC, and our usual results for the first six months of the year.

BBO TO REALBRIDGE

Long-time readers will be aware that Islandsbc was first formed in April 2020 in response to the impact of COVID. It provided for two free online tournaments a week courtesy of Ellen MacArthur from Oregon, who held tournament rights on BBO. In August 2026, BBO announced a monthly charge for players irrespective of how many occasions they played.

Given that only 25% of our members played twice a week, it was decided to organise a trial for the club on RealBridge at the beginning of September. RealBridge provides for both an audio and video link during play and also operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, which would be a better fit for the remaining 75% of our members. Following the trial, a decision was made to move to RealBridge, and our last tournament on BBO was held on 12 September 2026. In the period April 2020 – Sept 26, over 750 tournaments have been played.

ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE EVENT FOR ONE OF OUR MEMBERS

Avid readers will recall the loss by one of our members of her passport and the subsequent journey to replace it in the TRNC chronicled in the last quarterly newsletter. As if this wasn’t enough, Jane McVey was with her sister Liz in St Pancras Station, London on the evening of Saturday 5^th Sept. They had just attended an excellent performance of Stephen Mangan “The Truth” at the Apollo Theatre (can thoroughly recommend, says Jane) and were dining at a restaurant at the station prior to catching their train home. Jane received a call on her phone and, because of the surrounding noise, reached for her earphones from her handbag to discover the handbag containing cash, credit cards, car and house keys were gone.

A subsequent search by the restaurant staff revealed nothing more than a phone left behind by one of their customers. Having cancelled all the credit cards and arranged a pickup, Jane was just boarding her train when she received a call from the restaurant saying that they had retrieved her handbag. It transpired that the thief had returned to pick up their phone, and so the restaurant staff negotiated a return of Jane’s handbag for the exchange, although they hadn’t detained him. Having lost just the cash and her earphones, Jane decided that she would rather get home than stay to pursue a potential fruitless police investigation. We should all be grateful here in the TRNC that the epidemic of snatching phones or bags in London hasn’t yet reached our streets.

TIM MORGAN

BACKGROUND

Tim was born in 1955 in the UK and in 1964 was packed off by his parents to spend his formative years at the Blue Coat School (Christ’s Hospital) in West Sussex as a boarder. At 18, having originally wished to study medicine but lacking the right A levels, he did a Pharmacy degree at Bradford University. He decided against pursuing a pharmaceutical career as he didn’t want to end up as a shop retailer (pharmaceutical opportunities are much better these days) so after an uncertain start ended up in the insurance industry. He had spells with the Prudential, Towry Law, and by 1983 had moved to Sedgwick, an Insurance Broker where he rose steadily through the ranks.

In 2000, he was recruited to help run Alexander Forbes (a South African-based international Insurance Broker) operations in the UK. This in turn led to being invited in 2007 to take a senior role in their South African operation in Johannesburg.  He stayed for 5 years in South Africa, subsequently taking a role in a leading Insurance Company as Head of Sales and Marketing.  Having experienced a very varied life there, he moved on to an only marginally less dangerous life as a consultant in Karachi for 18 months. He remembers in particular the darkened windows of the cars he was transported around in, along with the bodyguard replete with an AK47. Between 2014 and 2020, he worked as an international part-time consultant as well as chairing his son’s renewable energy firm.

TRNC & KARMI

Tim had originally visited the TRNC in the 90s, but in March 2020 he and his partner/wife Jules came for a 4-week holiday and found after 10 days that the country was closed for COVID, so they ended up staying permanently. They initially rented in Karmi for a year but decided to buy there as they were both attracted by the unique nature of the buildings and location in the mountains.

For those unfamiliar with the background, Karmi was, before 1974, a Greek Cypriot village which was largely destroyed during the war and for a long time left deserted. In the late 1970s, an inspired German named Nadia Brunton approached the Government and persuaded them to invite foreigners to take leases and restore the original properties in the same style and recreate the village as it had previously been. For those of us overwhelmed by the high-rise development/holiday apartment blocks dominating the skyline to the east of Girne, Karmi represents a unique perspective of North Cyprus. Yes, it may lack solar panels and swimming pools, but for Tim and Jules it represents a haven of peace and quiet surrounded by like-minded expats.

BRIDGE

Tim was first introduced to social bridge as a teenager by his father but after going to university stopped playing for the next 50 years. It was whilst helping organise the ATA Games at the Alley Kitchen Café in 2024 that he decided to sit in on the Bridge sessions being run by Phil Conkie and Susan Cahit. This prompted his interest, and following sessions at Tony Armstrong’s Chicago group in Alsancak, he took the plunge and since 2025 has been playing regularly at the Korineum Monday Bridge Club with his partner Patrick Monvid.

 BRIDGE ETIQUETTE

One of the issues that bridge players transferring over from BBO to RealBridge will face is that their reactions to their own poor bidding/play (never your partner, of course) will now be visible to all those at that table. The following scenario is reminiscent of what some of us may have to face up to:

WIFE – opening study door – What was all that shouting about I just heard?

BRIDGE PLAYER (without looking up from the screen) – You’re imagining things my dear

WIFE – But I heard stamping on the floor?

BRIDGE PLAYER (trying to concentrate on screen) – Mice

WIFE – And there was also loud oaths and expletives?

BRIDGE PLAYER (Still trying to concentrate)– Ill-bred Mice

(with apologies to the late Kenneth Williams/Betty Marsdon – Round the Horne)

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